The light fitting hole is painted with gouache on gold paper and made good use of negative space to show the form. The gold shiny paper enhancing the contrast for the sharp metal holding strip across the dark blurred hole. This metal strip takes focus and cuts across the hole off center which is balanced by the dark hole and blurred wires. The circle felt a natural frame for this subject
The hanging baby dresses were unusual with their brightly coloured patterns and suggested the focus should be on these coloured patterns. Watercolour helped me focus on the patterns with the bright colours. The eye is drawn to the bright patterns, particularly the stripy red dress. I felt the need to add shadows to give depth and show the edges and arms more clearly however I do wonder if shadows distracts rather than enhances in this case.
The mini arm chair with ac control worked well with the strong tonal contrast and composition where it sits comfortably on the paper plate. I like that there is something within something i.e. the white control sat within the black seat on the sofa. Using Mindy Lee’s (Lee, 2014) approach to paper plates I left some unpainted and kept the background thin and light with more paint for the chair. This gives it character and shows the main control in the lounge is for the AC.
The flip flops fit appropriately in the oval shape with the wider part for the toe end. The build up of watercolour worked well for showing the tones and colour of the shoe compared to the background. The composition could have benefited from removing the dark object to the side so as to emphasis the shoes. The eye is drawn to the shoes strap.
The shoe collection came out interesting with the composition filling the circular space and involving some interesting kids shoes. They show how shoes are just thrown into and kept in the shoe cupboard. The eye is drawn to the white shoe and then the pink circles of the trainers. The composition has lots to look at which is important here to emphasis the jumbled collection of shoes in a tight box. The composition may not be completely balanced and rotating the circle so that the white shoe is on the right helps.
The mushroom and dummy was an interesting composition, where they offset each other in the circle. I liked the quality of the smooth dome, the see through dummy and colours. The shadow below the mushroom helped but overall didn’t go far enough to make the blue in the foot of the mushroom brighter to show that it was lit up. I find my eye is drawn first to the mushroom then to the dummy.
Peppa pig on a shelf is dream like, maybe even a bit lonely. The smooth plastic lid meant the oil was easily moved on the surface and with excess solvent resulted in the paint being washed away leaving streaks. Being see-through also means the background affects the look. The roundness of the toy fits or mirrors the shape of the surface. Composition is simple, makes the toy feel relatively small and alone on the shelf. The unintended finger prints are from my son who managed to pick it up whilst wet.
Drawer of toys shows a toy sticking out the top, partially obscured by the top cover and drawer side. This toy is contrasted with the coloured toys partially visible through the transparent drawer side. Using wet in wet to paint the drawer worked well for creating the frosted colourful drawer. I decided to try this composition after seeing Bonnards Nude in the interior which made focus on the toy through the gap in the drawer.
Toothbrushes came out far too dark with no tonal range and looks like the light had been turned out. This is partly because my brushes became too dirty with oil paint. The composition helps put the focus on the toothbrush. The oval shape helps bring the brush and the toothpaste together.
The toy on the edge of shelf is oil on paper plate. The eye is drawn to the toy and face but I find the background is distracting even though it provides context. The background has sharp high contrast areas drawing attention away from the toy.
Its important to identify the focus for the tondo, then bring out that which reflects the focus and little else. Iain Andrews may have a technique to help whereby I blur all but the focus and use impasto paint with strong colour. Painting part of paper plate, and use light wash to paint most of it, use darker stronger paint for part in focus helps. The only exception maybe the shoes which involves lots of different things jumbled together in an interesting way.
Rejects
The cloth was less successful and did not really look like anything. The tones are not correct leading to only the centre line being a highlight.
The light fitting pendant worked well with gouache on rough paper. Making use of the dry marks left from gouache drying in overlapping layers created the edges of the shade. It is simple with the patterns of light being the most interesting area. The cable draws intention but only briefly before looking at the shade.
The unmade bed didnt work out, not clear, maybe too complicated. I was drawn to the pillow showing the place where a head rested sitting around the edge of the circle with the sheet pulled taught with ripples over the edge of the bed. Perhaps I should have highlighted with tone the marks relating to where a head would have rested. There isnt a strong focal point although the pillow is the most interesting.
The jar of used batteries works well on rusty brown ground. Leaving a large area helps balance the crazy jumbled mess of the batteries although I’m not convinced its balanced. The eye is drawn to the large battery at the top reflecting the light.
The pile of receipts shows a sharpe contrast of paper scrunched up against other flat receipts. The eye is drawn to the scrunched up receipt on the side of the circle. Dissecting lines break the circle with large areas largely untouched help balance out the scrunched up paper. This makes me wonder if the lines dissect in the golden ratio and whether this is something appropriate to circular paintings.
The pot of used batteries was painted in acrylic on paper with a light brown ground. The brown ground made them look old and rusty. Showing only some of the batteries by not painting the pots label created a little room to breath and balance the battery collection. Unfortunately only some of the batteries look like batteries. The pots reflection and label is more a distraction without adding to the picture.
The collection of books was overly complicated. I had focussed on the most complex collection of books on the shelf thinking this would work better in the circle. I could try simplifying down to simple shapes like the top book without shadows.
References
